If you are only using them on your boots with front and rear welts which have very stiff rigid soles, you can just stay with the Camp-o-matic which has front and rear bails.If you might be using them on boots with rear welts but not front welts (La Sportiva Trango Evo, or similar) then New Matic would be best;If you want more flexibility to wear them on 3 season boots with more flexible soles, then New Classic would be best with strap binding front and back.

nyker wrote:If you are only using them on your boots with front and rear welts which have very stiff rigid soles, you can just stay with the Camp-o-matic which has front and rear bails.If you might be using them on boots with rear welts but not front welts (La Sportiva Trango Evo, or similar) then New Matic would be best;If you want more flexibility to wear them on 3 season boots with more flexible soles, then New Classic would be best with strap binding front and back.

Awesome thanks!

So is there any downside to getting for instance the New Classic to have flexability with what boots I use or is the Cramp-O-Matic the best choice for boots with front and rear welts?

Only if you plan to climb ice. I've never seen the New Classic style on ice, but I would be afraid of the crampon wiggling. I've climbed ice in the New Matics and thought they were fine, so maybe the New Classic would work well too. However, I would be inclined to think that they may feel sloppy. I only own the Cramp-o-Matic and while they're the most stable on steep hard snow and ice, and even though I love them 99% of the time, every now and again I wish I had the New Matics so I could wear them on another pair of boots with only the heel welt.

All this information is worthless however, unless you plan to use them for steep ice at any time point. If not, any of them will work with the only difference being the versatility of the crampon for multiple boot types.

I agree with Fuego. If you're going to do any ice/mixed climbing, incl steep icy couloirs with any front pointing, I'd certainly prefer rear/toe bails for the precision. If they are adjusted properly (I've seen a few people fail to get them tight enough...) they are very secure. But if you're swapping out to boots without the welts, the newmatics are pretty good. Personally I hate strap-ons, I think they are pretty sloppy and a hassle to get on when it's really cold, but that's just me. -Tom